ĐỀ mẫu VSTEP Reading Test ÔN THI B1 CHÂU ÂU SỐ 2

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READING PAPER 5
Time permitted: 60 minutes
Number of questions: 40
_______________________________________________________________________
Directions:In this section you will read FOUR different passages. Each one is followed
by 10 questions about it. For questions 1-40, you are to choose the best answer A, B, C
or D, to each question. Then, on your answer sheet, find the number of the question and
fill in the space that corresponds to the letter of the answer you have chosen. Answer all
questions following a passage on the basis of what is stated or implied in that passage.
You have 60 minutes to answer all the questions, including the time to transfer your
answers to the answer sheet.
PASSAGE 1 – Questions 1-10
Vietnam, a one-party Communist state, has one of south-east Asia's fastest-growing
economies and has set its sights on becoming a developed nation by 2020.It became a
unified country once more in 1975 when the armed forces of the Communist north seized
the south.
Vietnam is located on the eastern Indochina Peninsula. Because of differences in latitude
and the marked variety in topographical relief, the climate tends to vary considerably
from place to place. During the winter or dry season, extending roughly from November
to April, the monsoon winds usually blow from the northeast along the Chinese coast and
across the Gulf of Tonkin, picking up considerable moisture. Consequently, the winter
season in most parts of the country is dry only by comparison with the rainy or summer
season.
In 2014, the population of Vietnam is standing at approximately 90.7 million people. The
population had grown significantly from the 1979 census, which showed the total
population of reunified Vietnam to be 52.7 million. In 2012, the country's population was


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estimated at approximately 90.3 million. Currently, the total fertility rate of Vietnam is
1.8 (births per woman), which is largely due to the government'sfamily planning policy
and the two-child policy.
The official national language of Vietnam is Vietnamese a tonal Mon–Khmer language
which is spoken by the majority of the population.Vietnam has an extensive statecontrolled network of schools, colleges and universities, and a growing number of
privately run and partially privatized institutions. General education in Vietnam is
divided into five categories: kindergarten, elementary schools, middle schools, high
schools, and universities. A large number of public schools have been constructed across
the country to raise the national literacy rate, which stood at 90.3% in 2008.
Vietnam has become a major tourist destination since the 1990s, assisted by significant
state and private investment, particularly in coastal regions. About 3.77 million
international tourists visited Vietnam in 2009 alone.Popular tourist destinations include
the former imperial capital of Hue, the World Heritage Sites of Phong Nha-Ke Bang
National Park, Hoi An and My Son, coastal regions such as Nha Trang, the caves of Ha
Long Bay and the Marble Mountains. Numerous tourist projects are under construction,
such as the Binh Duong tourist complex, which possesses the largest artificial sea in
Southeast Asia.
1. What does the word “It” in paragraph 1 refer to?
A. Asia
B. Vietnam
C. Communist state
D. A unified country
2. Why does the climate of Vietnam tend to change significantly from region to
region?
A. Because of the monsoon winds
B. Because of the winter or dry season


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C. Because of differences in latitude and the marked variety in topographical relief
D. Because of the rainy or summer season
3. How many people were there in Vietnam in 2012?
A. 90.7 million
B. 52.7 million
C. 90.3 million
D. 1.8 million
4. Why is the present fertility rate of Vietnam 1.8?
A. Because the population had grown significantly from the 1979 census .
B. Because the government has taken part in family-planning and two-child policy.
C. Because the total population of reunified Vietnam was 52.7 million ,
D. Because the government has carried out family-planning and two-child policy.
5. How many levels are there in the education system?
A. 3
B. 4
C. 5
D. 6
6. The word “which” in paragraph 3 refers to _______
A. The country's population was estimated at approximately 90.3 million
B. The total fertility rate of Vietnam is 1.8.
C. The country's population .
D. The fertility rate
7. Which of the following words does the word “extensive” have closest meaning to?
A. Vast
B. Restricted
C. Comfortable
D. Spacious
8. Which of the following words does the word “assisted” have closest meaning to?
A. Attended

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B. Aided
C. Altered
D. Entertained
9. How does the author illustrate the development of Vietnam tourism?
A. By giving the number of visitors who travel to Vietnam and naming the beauty spots in
this country.
B. By giving the statistics about tourisms’ income.
C. By comparing Vietnam tourism with other countries’.
D. By travelling to many beauty spots in Vietnam.
10. What is the writer’s purpose in writing this text?
A. To support the development of Vietnam.
B. To provide general information about Vietnam.
C. To advertise the development of Vietnam.
D. To compare Vietnam with other countries.
PASSAGE 2 – Questions 11-20
Every year for many years the people of Milpa Alta, Mexico, have prepared a feast in the
week before Christmas. Sixty thousand tamales and 15,000 litres of hot chocolate are
made in less than a week, not too much and not too little for the thousands of people who
show up for the feast. The feast is called La Rejunta and is made for pilgrims preparing
for the long walk to the holy cave of El Señor de Chalma on January 3rd. The people
responsible for organising La Rejunta are called the majordomos. It’s an honour to be
chosen and so many people want to do it that the waiting list is full until 2046.
The stages in the organisation of La Rejunta are the same every year. Tradition is
important to the Milpa Alta people. Corn has been grown here for hundreds of years and
the name of the region means ‘high cornfield’. Local farmers grow most of the corn,
meat, and vegetables needed as ingredients for the meal. And a year before the event, the

men go to the forest and collect wood that they pile up high near the home of


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the majordomo so that it will be properly dried before it’s used for open-air cooking. This
year’s majordomos are Virginia Meza Torres and her husband Fermín Lara Jiménez.
‘There is an infinity of things to do,’ Virginia Meza Torres says firmly, as if to indicate
there is no time to talk. Virginia is heading to the local offices to get the necessary
permits and Fermín sets off into the countryside in search of more ingredients. They
leave their daughter Montserrat Lara Meza in charge. She is a 24-year-old graduate
student who’s come home to help her parents for the week. Volunteers are starting to
arrive and Montserrat wanders down the hill to a shed to see how the toasting of the corn
is going. Everything is made from the basics – no instant mixes or other culinary
shortcuts are allowed.
Such traditional approaches are part of everyday life here. Eating together is perhaps the
most important example. ‘In my experience, there is a glue, a bonding, that comes from
the time together at the table,’ says Josefina García Jiménez. She often cooks for her
nieces and nephews and says, ‘It feels like I am passing down a tradition, and when it
comes to their turn to be adults, they will remember what I have done. Here we have time
to cook, time to think just what ingredients are needed, time to show our kids through
cooking that we love them.’
When the day of La Rejunta arrives, the volunteers have been up all night, though no one
admits to feeling tired. Fermin has made sure there are enough tamales for everyone, and
the head cook has been stirring the atole (chocolate drink) all night. After a 14-year wait,
and a full year of preparation, it’s almost time for Fermin and Virginia to hand over
responsibility to the next majordomos. But first, there are thousands of cups of atole to
serve.
11. The article is an account of _____
A. day-to-day life of farmers in Mexico.

B. key features of a Mexican community.
C. what Mexican people eat at Christmas.


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D. what Mexican people drink at Chirstmas
12. La Rejunta is ______
A. a meal where all the guests bring some dishes.
B. a feast which is organized every 2 years
C. just one example of Milpa Alta traditions.
D. started as a way of using up extra corn in Milpa Alta.
13. La Rejunta feast ______
A. is held once every two years
B. lasts a week.
C. Takes two weeks to get ready
D. takes a week to get ready.
14. Pilgrims to the holy cave _______
A. take Rejunta food to eat on their journey.
B. make their trip after Christmas.
C. are called majordomos.
D. make their trip right after having the meal
15. Which statement is true?
A. It’s hard to find people who want to organise the feast.
B. It’s difficult to get selected to organise the feast.
C. The next feast is in about thirty years’ time.
D. Not many people want to organize the feast.
16. Which statement is NOT true, according to the second paragraph?
A. Preparations for the feast start a year in advance.
B. Everything required for the meal comes from the local area.

C. Only vegetarian food is served at the meal.
D. The cooking is done in the open air.
17. Virginia and Fermin ______
A. have lots of experience organising these meals.
B. make all the preparation themselves.


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C. don’t have enough ingredients for the feast.
D. are too busy to spend much time with the author.
18. In Milpa Alta, people pay attention to traditions_______
A. all the time.
B. only at certain times of the year.
C. when they eat.
D. when Chrismast is coming
19. According to Josefina García Jiménez, _______
A. cooking for your family is an act of love.
B. people no longer remember cooking traditions.
C. traditional cooking takes up too much time.
D. young people do not like tradditional cooking.
20. According to the final paragraph, which statement is true?
A. The volunteers eat tamales during the night.
B. Last-minute preparations take place the night before the feast.
C. Fermin and Virginia have to choose the next majordomos.
D. the next majordomos are chose right after the feast.
PASSAGE 3 – Questions 21-30
Prehistoric peoples most certainly took note of the recurring patterns of movements in the
sky of such celestial bodies as the Sun, the Moon, the planets, and the stars, and they
most certainly noted that events in their world, such as seasonal fluctuations in weather,

which in turn had an effect on the lives of the plants and animals in their world, were
often correlated with the movements of the celestial bodies. Because it was important for
prehistoric people to have knowledge, for example, of when it was important for
prehistoric people to have been migrating, early farmers and hunters took a great interest
in the movements of celestial bodies. An understanding of the relationship between the
movements of celestial bodies and recurring patterns of events on Earth was paramount


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in many cultures; thus, many cultures in widely separated areas of the world developed
methods for monitoring astronomical events.
The field of archeoastronomy, which combines knowledge and expertise from the fields
of archeology and astronomy, is dedicated to the study of the astronomical knowledge of
prehistoric cultures. Archeoatronomers who have been studying prehistoric cultures in
North America have been discovered various devices that made it possible for prehistoric
people to study and record astronomical events. An alignment of stones in Wyoming that
is known as the Bighorn Medicine Wheel, the remnants of a circular-shaped structure
created with wooden posts at Cahoki in Illinois, and specially designed windows in
structures of the Southwest that allowed the rays of the Sun to hit designated marks on
inside walls are all believed to be constructions that serve the function of monitoring and
measuring astronomical events.
One particular construction, which is located in the Chaco Canyon area of the state of
New Mexico, has been the subject of considerable attention and discussion among
archeologists and astronomers. This construction, which is at least 700 years old, consists
of large slabs of rock located on top of the flat surface of a high butte that seem to form
an observatory of sorts. What makes it appear to experts to be an observatory is that the
slabs of rock are positioned so that shafts of sunlight fall betweenthem and hit spiral
markings carved into the side of a cliff. As the Sun changes positions with the
progressions of the seasons, the shafts of light fall in different places on the markings in

the cliff wall. Using this system, it must have been possible for early inhabitants of the
area to predict upcoming seasonal changes and the events based on them.
One question that has been the focus of considerable discussion is whether the stones
were actually placed in their current location by early inhabitants of the region or whether
the stones forces of nature created the arrangement. While some scientists argue that the
stones could not have fallen in the current arrangement by mere happenstanceand must


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have been purposefully positioned, others find it harder to believe that the huge stones
could have been moved and easier to believe that that the marks on the cliff wall were
placed to reflect the positions where the slabs had fallen naturally. Whether or not the
slabs were positioned by the local population, the structure correlating the positions of the
slabs and the markings on the cliff wall represents a remarkably sophisticated method of
following astronomical events
21. The word “correlated in” paragraph 1 could be replaced by
A. in disagreement
B. in coordination
C. in touch
D. in spirit
22. It is not mentioned in paragraph 1 that prehistoric peoples were interested in
A. the movements of the stars
B. changes in the weather
C. migration patterns of certain animals
D. the evolution of various plants
23. The word “paramount” in paragraph 1 could be replaced by
A. tall
B. dependable
C. supreme

D. computed
24. Which of the following would an archeoastronomer be most likely to study?
A. Plans to send a spacecraft to Mars
B. Potential remnants of an early civilization’s lunar calendar
C. Tools used by a prehistoric tribe to prepare food
D. Geographic formations on the Moon


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25. The author mentions “An alignment of stones in Wyoming, a circular-shaped
structure … at Cahoki, and specially designed windows in structures of the
Southwest” in paragraph 2 in order to...
A. provide proof that archeastronomers have been studying prehistoric cultures
B. provide support for the idea that North American cultures built creative structures
C. provide evidence that certain astronomical events have not changed over time
D. provide examples of ways that prehistoric people monitored occurrences in the sky
26. The word “serve” in paragraph 2 could best be replaced by
A. fulfill
B. provide
C. assist
D. demonstrate
27. What is stated in paragraph 3 about the construction in Chaco Canyon?
A. It was created from a single piece of stone
B. It prevents sunlight from entering the area
C. It was built before the fourteenth century
D. It is located in a canyon
28. The phrase “of sorts” in paragraph 3 is closest meaning to
A. of opportunity
B. of some kind

C. of the past
D. of fate
29. The word “them” in paragraph 3 refers to
A. experts
B. slabs
C. shafts
D. markings
30. The word “happenstance” in paragraph 4 is closest meaning to
A. standing


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B. event
C. order
D. chance
PASSAGE 4 – Questions 31-40
According to the theory of plate tectonics, the upper portion of the Earth’s lithosphere,
which contains the heavier oceanic and the lighter continental crusts, consists of a series
of rigid plates that are in constant motion. This theory provides a cohesive model to
explain the integrated actions of continental drift, seafloor spreading, and mountain
formation.
The Earth’s plates are estimated to have an average depth of appropriately 60 miles (or
100 kilometers), but they are believed to vary considerably in size. Some are estimated to
be continental or even hemispheric in size, while others are believed to be much smaller.
Though the actual boundaries and sizes and shapes of the plates are not known for sure, it
has been postulated that there are six major plates and somewhere around the same
number of smaller ones. Most of the plates consist of both sial (continental) and sima
(oceanic) crust. They are in constant movement, though they move at an extremely slow
pace, and these movements cause frequent interactions between plates.

At this time, scientists have identified three different types of boundaries between plates.
At a divergent boundary, plates are moving away from each other. This type of boundary
occurs at an oceanic ridge, where new material is being added to the seafloor from deeper
within the Earth. Shallow earthquakes and underwater volcanoes are associated with this
type of plate activity. At a convergent boundary, plates are moving toward each other
and collide, causing vast folding and crumpling along the edges of the plates, one of the
plates slowly folds under the other. Though this subduction is slow, it can nonetheless be
quite catastrophic as the crustal material of the submerging plate gradually melts into the
fiery hot depths below. The area where subduction occurs is usually an area where the


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crust is relatively unstable and is characterized by numerous deep earthquakes and a
significant amount of volcanic activity. The boundaries between convergent plates are
generally found around the edges of ocean basins and are sometimes associated with
deep ocean trenches. A third type of boundary is a transcurrent boundary, which
involves two plates sliding past each other laterally, without the folding and crumpling
that occurs at a convergent boundary. This third type of boundary is thought to be far less
common than the other two types of boundaries.
The concept of plate tectonics provides an understanding of the massive rearrangement of
the Earth’s crust that has apparently taken place. It is now generally accepted that the
single supercontinent known as Pangaea indeed existed, that Pangaea subsequently broke
apart into two giant pieces, Gondwanaland in the south and Laurasia in the north, and that
the continents attached to the various crustal plates separated and drifted in various
directions. As the plates drifted, they may have diverged, which was associated with the
spread of the seafloor, or they may have converged, which resulted in collision,
subduction, and mountain building.
40A The majority of the Earth’s major mountain ranges are found in zones where plates
converge. 40B The Himalayas, which are the world’s highest mountains, along with the

central Asian mountains of varying heights associated with them, were formed by the
crumpling and folding of two massive plates that collided at a convergent boundary.
40CThe landmass that is today known as India was originally part of Gondwanaland,
the giant supercontinent in the Southern Hemisphere, but it broke off from
Gondwanaland approximately 200 million years ago and drifted north to collide with
part of Laurasia, the giant supercontinent in the Northern Hemisphere, to create the
world’s tallest mountains. 40D
31. The word “cohesive” in paragraph 1 is closest in meaning to
A. unified


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B. contemporary
C. tenacious
D. lengthy
32. It can be inferred from paragraph 2 that
A. none of the plates has a depth of more than 100 kilometers
B. each of the plates has approximately the same dimensions
C. some plates are relatively stationary
D. there are most likely around 6 minor plates
33. The word “postulated” in paragraph 2 is closest in meaning to
A. postponed
B. hypothesized
C. proven
D. forgotten
34. The author uses the expression “At this time” at the beginning of paragraph 3 in
order to indicate that
A. more types of boundaries might be found in the future
B. interactions are currently occurring between plates

C. all possible types of boundaries have already been located
D. the major plates are all currently moving away from each other
35. The word “subduction” in paragraph 3 is closest in meaning to
A. strong attack
B. lateral movement
C. sudden melting
D. downward force
36. According to the passage, subduction
A. occurs rapidly
B. has little effect
C. causes one of the plates to sink and melt
D. generally takes place in stable areas
37. It is NOT stated in paragraph 4 that it is generally accepted that
A. there used to be a giant continent


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B. the giant continent broke into parts
C. Gondwanaland moved to the south and Laurasia moved to north
D. the continents moved in various directions
38. The word “them” in paragraph 5 refers to
A. zones
B. the Himalayas
C. central Asian mountains
D. two massive plates
39. Which of the sentences below expresses the essential information in the
highlighted sentence in paragraph 5? Incorrect choices change the meaning in
important ways or leave out essential information.
A. India was formed when a landmass from the Southern Hemisphere broke off and

collided with a landmass in the Northern Hemisphere.
B. Gondwanaland drifted north 200 million years ago to merge with Laurasia.
C. India was formed 200 million years ago when two giant supercontinents drifted north
and collided.
D. The world’s tallest mountains used to be in India, but they broke off from India and
drifted to the north.
40. Look at the four spaces that indicate where the following sentence can be added
to paragraph 5.A
Mountain building is clearly explained through the concept of plate tectonics.
A. 40A
B. 40B
C. 40C
D. 40D


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ĐÁP ÁN
1.C
11.B
21.B
31.A

2.A
12.C
22.D
32.D

`

3.C
13.D
23.C
33.B

4.D
14.B
24.B
34.A

5.D
15.B
25.D
35.D

6.D
16.C
26.A
36.C

7.C
17.D
27.C
37.C

8.C
18.A
28.B
38.B

9.A
19.A
29.B
39.A

10.B
20.B
30.D
40.A


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READING PAPER 6
Time permitted: 60 minutes
Number of questions: 40
_______________________________________________________________________
Directions:In this section you will read FOUR different passages. Each one is followed
by 10 questions about it. For questions 1-40, you are to choose the best answer A, B, C
or D, to each question. Then, on your answer sheet, find the number of the question and
fill in the space that corresponds to the letter of the answer you have chosen. Answer all
questions following a passage on the basis of what is stated or implied in that passage.
You have 60 minutes to answer all the questions, including the time to transfer your
answers to the answer sheet.
PASSAGE 1 – Questions 1-10
Eddy is warm, charming and friendly. He laughs a lot. He seems at first like an average
kindly grandfather. But 15 years ago, a virus attacked his brain and destroyed the part
where memories are made. He can remember his childhood and being a sailor in the
Navy, but cannot remember anything since 1960. As far as he knows, petrol is cheap and
the moon landing never happened.

Since his illness, the only people he knows are the ones in the room with him. On a
typical morning, he will get up and have breakfast, then go back to bed to listen to the
radio. Often he will forget that he has eaten, so will get up and have breakfast again and
return to bed. Sometimes he’ll have breakfast a third time.
Without a memory, he is trapped in the present, between a past he can’t remember and a
future he can’t imagine. He lives a quiet life and doesn’t even know that he has a memory
problem. ‘He’s happy all the time,’ says his daughter Carol, who lives nearby. I guess it’s
because he doesn’t have any stress in his life.


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For Anna, in contrast, the past is always there. ‘My memory flows like a movie’, she
says. She remembers who called her on the phone at 12.34 on Sunday August 3, 1986.
She remembers that on March 28 1992, she had lunch with her father at the Beverly Hills
Hotel. She remembers what they ate, every word of the conversation. She remembers
great world events and shopping trips. She remembers the weather. Every day is there,
every detail.
Anna believes it is something that happens to her naturally, but it is not an ability she
welcomes. ‘I remember the good things, which is nice. But I also remember the bad
things, every bad choice. Ten years later, I still get angry with myself for making the
wrong decisions. I don’t forgive myself for a lot of things. I would love for just five minutes to be a simple person and not have all this stuff in my head. Most people call it a gift.
But I call it a burden.’
Scientists are unsure why Anna’s memory is so extraordinary, but both of these cases
demonstrate the importance of memory. Eddy's case shows us how essential memory is
for us to function; but Anna's shows that if our memories are to function properly, we
also need to be able to forget.
1. The best title for this article would be …
A. Memory Loss.
B. Memory Wonders.

C. Unexplained Memory Mysteries.
D. The importance of memory
2. The aim of the text is to …
A. arouse sympathy.
B. describe an experiment
C. interest and inform.
D. describe some scientific progress.
3. Anna and Eddy are similar in that they …


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A. both work in the same area.
B. are both extreme examples.
C. come from the same state.
D. all have a cheeful life.
4. Eddy appears to be …
A. cheerful
B. anxious
C. shy
D. strained
5. Eddy’s condition was caused by …
A. a childhood illness.
B. an accident when he was in the Navy.
C. an unhappy childhood
D. an infection in later life.
6. In the mornings, Eddy is often unable to remember …
A. whether he has eaten.
B. how to use the radio.
C. how to make breakfast.

D. Both A and C
7. Carol says that her father …
A. does not have a real problem.
B. is worried about the future.
C. seems to be quite content.
D. is unhappy when he knows his problems.
8. For Anna, August 3rd 1986 and March 28th 1992 …
A. were special anniversaries.
B. marked the start of two important periods.
C. were ordinary days.
D. were the days she went shopping with her friends.


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9. According to the text, Anna’s memory …
A.is only visual.
B. is the result of years of training.
C. is a gift for her.
D. is unusually accurate.
10. Anna says that her memory is …
A. difficult to live with.
B. an extraordinary gift.
C. simple to understand.
D. helpful for her
PASSAGE 2 – Questions 11-20
The Earth is known as the Blue Planet because of its color when viewed from space by
our astronauts. We enjoy sunny days when the sky is blue but it seems to be a “mystery”
why the sky and atmosphere appear blue. But it’s really a matter of how the human eye
works and how light interacts with air molecules in the atmosphere. Remember that

humans can see visible light, those wavelengths between 400 nanometers and 700
nanometers. Visible light is divided into colors also by wavelength and this is called the
color spectrum. The blue range that includes violet has the shortest wavelengths of any
visible light.
When light interacts with any kind of molecules, its energy can be absorbed, reflected or
scattered. Light is scattered when it hits gases in the atmosphere. The amount of light
that is scattered is related to the size of the particle compared to the wavelength of the
light falling on the particle. Since blue and violet have the shortest wavelength they are
scattered the most by molecules of gases in the atmosphere. Because of this scattering
there is more of the blue wavelength in the atmosphere than any other. The human eye
has cones dedicated to receiving blue wavelength, so we see the sky as blue without
noticing the traces of purple.


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Another “mystery” of nature is how rainbows are formed. Rainbows are seen only after it
rains and the atmosphere contains water droplets. Sunlight enters the water droplets, is
bent by the droplet and is reflected out of the droplet. The different colors are bent by an
amount related to their wavelength so the result is a spectrum like that produced by a
prism.
A rainbow always appears as the same kind of arc in the sky. The red part of the rainbow
is always at 42° to the line of the horizon and the blue-violet part of the rainbow is always
at 40° with the other colors of the spectrum in between. These angles are related to the
wavelength of each color. Most people have never noticed that the sun is always behind
them when they face a rainbow.
11. When Earth is viewed from space, it appears
A. red
B. yellow
C. blue

D. green
12. What colors have the shortest wavelengths?
A. Shades of blue and purple
B. Shades of green
C. Shades of red
D. Shades of orange
13. Visible light …
A. can be seen by the human eye
B. is in the range 400 to 700 nanometers
C. is the source of the color spectrum
D. All of the above
14. The sky appears blue because light interacts with